I-Corps: Educational game based on research from Jurassic and current coral reefs

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一个基于了解珊瑚礁如何在环境变化中生存的教育游戏。这个提议的游戏是一个学习工具，通过使用现实世界的例子来指导玩家通过进化和灭绝的过程。将科学与游戏相结合能够鼓励玩家通过合作和制定策略进行主动学习。其目标是提高科学素养，鼓励人们参与环保活动。了解珊瑚礁对现实世界的反应（如游戏中的模拟）可以帮助我们了解如何通过指导保护、法律和补救措施来保护现代海洋群落。受教育和参与的公众是保护的关键。手机和电脑游戏的可访问性和受欢迎程度可能会使他们更容易接受和更愉快。大多数教育类游戏都是面向儿童或专注于生物、化学或物理。该技术将地球科学的原理和例子整合到一个设计良好、测试良好的游戏中，目标受众是高中、大学和成人。这个I-Corps项目是基于对生态系统如何在过去的环境变化中幸存下来的理解，开发一个地球科学教育手机、网络或电脑游戏。协作学习和基于游戏的学习的好处已经得到证实，但游戏很少包含新的科学发现或概念。这个游戏被设计成结合了地球科学、进化论和化石记录。这款教育性电子游戏已经作为桌面游戏进行了测试，它教会玩家环境变化、珊瑚礁生态和进化机制，以及这些系统如何相互作用，导致主要社区随着时间的推移发生变化。这款游戏结合了环境、生物群落和气候变化的场景，这些场景来自对摩洛哥侏罗纪时期珊瑚礁和牙买加今天活着的珊瑚礁的研究。该游戏和相关材料已经在本科地球科学、海洋学和生物学课程中进行了评估，并展示了向学生传授珊瑚礁的潜力，以及它们如何随着时间的推移而变化，以应对自身的进化以及我们星球上的环境变化。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of an educational game based on understanding how coral reefs survive environmental change. This proposed game is a learning tool that guides players through the processes of evolution and extinction using real-world examples. Integrating science with gaming encourages active learning via collaboration and strategizing. The goal is to increase scientific literacy and encourage engagement with conservation. Understanding how coral reefs might react to real-world scenarios (as modeled in a game) may provider an understanding of how modern ocean communities may be protected using guiding conservation, laws, and remediation. An educated and engaged public is key to conservation. The accessibility and popularity of mobile and computer games may make their adoption easier and more enjoyable. Most educational games are marketed towards young children or are focused on biology, chemistry, or physics. The proposed technology incorporates Earth science principles and examples in a well-designed, well-tested game aimed at high school, college, and adult audiences.This I-Corps project is based on the development of an educational Earth science mobile, web, or computer game using the understanding how ecosystems survived past environmental change. The benefits of collaborative learning and game-based learning have been well established, but very rarely do games incorporate new scientific discoveries or concepts. The proposed game is designed to incorporate Earth sciences, evolution, and the fossil record. The proposed educational electronic game has been tested as a board game that teaches the player about environmental change, reef ecology and evolutionary mechanisms as well as how these systems interact to cause major community change through time. The game incorporates environments, biotas, and climate change scenarios from research on Jurassic-aged reefs in Morocco and coral reefs alive today in Jamaica. The game and associated material have been assessed in undergraduate geoscience, oceanography, and biology classes and show the potential to teach students about coral reefs and how they change through time in response to their own evolution as well as environmental shifts on our planet.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.